1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for mechanically gaining fillet from the bodies of slaughtered poultry, from which the extremities have been removed and of which the skeletal portion to be processed essentially comprises a breastbone (sternum) including the crest (crista sterni) and breastbone plate (corpus sterni), the wing joints and wishbone (clavicula) both held by the coracoids (coracoidae), and possibly the remains of the ribs, the poultry body being held and moved in the direction of its longitudinal axis with the wing joints forward, as well as an apparatus for carrying out the method having a conveyor with receptacles or supporting elements equipped with a saddle surface for supporting the poultry body on the inner surface of the breastbone and with a controllable clamping element for fixing the poultry body, and having processing tools arranged along the path of the conveyor and a control mechanism for time and spatial control of the processes.
2. Prior Art
The document EP-B1-0 380 714 discloses a method of this type and an apparatus for carrying out this method. The method is characterized by a sequence of method steps which, when applied in the given order, are intended to allow the flesh from poultry bodies to be reclaimed in the form of double (breast) fillets with or without inner fillets. Associated with this are provided correspondingly adapted processing tools, arranged along the length of the path of the conveyor with supporting elements for supporting the poultry bodies to be processed and controllable in synchronization with the forward movement of the supporting elements.
Practical application has shown that on employing the given succession of method steps, a satisfactory result with regard to yield, appearance and, in particular, securely attached inner fillets is not achievable. An analysis of the causes shows that essentially undefined tearing processes, which damage both the flesh structure and the natural connection between the inner and main fillets lead to this result.